West Indies 163 (Motty 55, Warwick 36*, Nauman 6-41) lead Pakistan 154 (Rizwan 49, Warikin 4-43, Moti 3-49) by nine runs
Craig Brathwaite and Kevin Hodge put together a short partnership that dismissed fast bowler Kashif Ali and stopped the spinners initially. But once that stand was punctured, it started bleeding. West Indies lost five wickets in the next 13 balls, reducing their score from 32 for 2 to 38 for 7.
Nauman’s three balls at the start of the 12th over gave him a hat-trick with a combination of balls. Justin Graves’ lead came as a result of a touch of extra bounce, while Tevin Imlach missed a sweep on a straight one. With almost everyone crowding around the bat for the hat-trick ball, Nauman drives it forward with pace and the pitch gets a bit of turn. It was too good for Kevin Sinclair’s makeshift prod, and Nauman scored his hat-trick.
However, what transpired in the last hour before lunch showed that the wicket was highly conducive to spin, but not necessarily unplayable. The West Indies bottom three created history in the last Test when they became the top three scorers in an innings for the first time and they repeated the feat in this game. Mott, Roach and Warrican produced a brilliant mix of determination and fun to steer the West Indies out of somewhat troubled waters.
Roach and Moti put on 41 runs for the ninth wicket, before the former’s no-sweep gave Nauman his fifth wicket. But Mott and Warrican linked up for another substantial partnership. It was a mixture of good cop, bad cop as Moti took out the spinners while Warikin gave them the hex at the other end. Lunch was extended as the final stand continued, and against all odds, the West Indies were bowled out for 137 to take their highest score of the series.
Moti made a 50-run partnership at the ground for Warwick before completing his half-century. It was only on the stroke of lunch that Moti Nauman missed a slog sweep that shook his off-stump, and a session that began with Pakistan’s complete dominance ended on a more neutral tenor.
The West Indies had, in Roach, a fast bowler they trusted even at this level, and in the first hour, he showed why. To clip the new ball both in the air and down the seam, he drew Mohammad Harira forward and rapped him on the front pad to draw first blood. It was the first of three wickets inside 14 balls.
Babar Azam suffered a loss due to a lack of bounce from Mooti as he tried to slice back foot and missed a cut that caused the ball to hit the off-stump. The stumps were troubled again when Shaun Masood played around another ball from Roach that came back to him, and 163 suddenly looked a long way off.
Shakeel and Kamran Ghulam played survival cricket in a part of the game that spelled danger for Pakistan. They took the sting out of the game over the next half hour, halting West Indies’ momentum and taking the pressure off themselves as the partnership swelled and took Pakistan to 50.
After Ghulam’s forward defensive shot, Moti hit it high on the bat and Alec Athanaze took a quick catch, Shakeel and Rizwan managed. They looked more confident than either batsman from either side all day: Shakeel absorbed the pressure while Rizwan passed it back to the opposition. Providing a clear example of how to bat in difficult conditions, Rizwan’s footwork, field manipulation, and sweep shot influenced the West Indies’ first innings score as well as scoring runs.
But a bit of brilliance in the field, and again with the ball, saw the West Indies regain race control. As Shakeel looked to jab Warwick through midwicket, his ill-timed shot interested Roach at long-on. The veteran seamer dived forward with full extension to take a catch, injuring himself in the process. With the wind in his sails, Warikin soon removed Rizwan beautifully, as one left Rizwan high and drained down the crease at halfway, allowing Imlach to whip the Bulls all the time in the world. Got a chance.
West Indies had no trouble with Pakistan when it came to running it through the lower order. Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 35 runs, with a mix-up between Sajid and Kashif on the 20th of the day resulting in a run out. It was a gift to the bowlers on a day when they didn’t need such generosity.
Daniyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000